I Love Laundry!

Tom Branna, Editorial Director01.01.14

“Mundane.” “Awful.” “Dreadful.” These are just some of the words experts use to describe the laundry process…and it breaks my heart. Want to know my dirty little secret? Well, one that I can share in a family magazine, anyway. I love doing laundry! Probably because I (and you) don’t really do anything when we’re doing it! The washing machine does the work, so does the dryer and so does the detergent. All I have to do is show up, load up and pick up. Pretty much like all those do-nothing dads who pace the sidelines and scream from the stands while somebody else coaches their temperamental 8 year old.
But I digress.

Unlike raking leaves, dusting or for the next couple of months anyway here in New Jersey, shoveling snow, there is no physical effort at all involved in doing laundry. Week in and week out, I and my trusty bottle of detergent—sorry, I haven’t graduated to pricey unit dose yet—tackle supposed tough grass stains, less-than-bright whites and other garment glitches, with no drama. No broken lawn mower pull start, no jammed leaf blower. Nope, after a few loads that only require me to “set it and forget it,” I’ve got clean clothes for a week. Why, I ask, is there so much angst surrounding a pile of dirty clothes?

Of course, my wife would say, “let’s see if you still love laundry if you have to do it for the entire household!”

Maybe I don’t get it, but detergent makers certainly do. That’s why they’re rolling out an array of new product forms in 2014, nearly all of them designed to make the laundry process easier and less of a chore. You can read about them on p. 68 in this issue, where you’ll also find articles on trends in household product perfumery (p. 63), Procter & Gamble’s latest fashionable efforts (p. 72), up-and-coming skin care companies (p. 47) and natural personal care trends (p. 57).

Happy New Year from the Happi staff and Happy Laundry Day to one and all!

Related Editorial

Cosmetic chemists like to say “skin is the biggest organ in the body.” We’re not totally convinced that is skin is technically an organ, but skin care is certainly the biggest category in the beauty industry, which is one of the rea…

Industries and governments and even cosmetics companies are betting the farm on urbanization—it seems like a sure thing. Christophe Berset, strategic market manager for Wacker, recently noted that 54% of the world’s population is already…

Industry associations jumped to their members’ defense when a study published last month in Science found that petroleum-based chemicals used in perfumes, paints and other consumer products can, when taken together, emit as much volatile organi…

Many readers took us to task for the cover image on the January issue of Happi. They’re right; the cover was in very poor taste and was offensive (See Letters to the Editor, p. 10). As one reader noted:
“I would like to express my disp…

Twelve months since my last prognostication (and yep, I was wrong again) and the global economy is still humming along. Back then, I wondered how long the already-long-in-the-tooth recovery could continue—turns out, a year and counting. Now, a…

First the good news for US retailers, more than 3,000 stores opened this year stateside. The bad news? Nearly 6,800 of them closed in 2017.
As Bloomberg points out, this depressing reality comes while consumer confidence is sky-high, unemploymen…

Everyone dreams about quitting their job; can’t you just picture it? Walking up to your 60-something boss, telling her that she should reconsider her choice of shoes and her outdated mindset and…well I digress. While most fantasies…

Every October, we publish our contract manufacturing/private label directory. Would-be Mary Kay Ashes or Charles Revsons (and for those who are much younger than I am, would-be Jamie Kern Limas) rely on it to find a partner to help manufacture t…

After the tragedy in Charlottesville, and his refusal to condemn white supremacists, US President Donald J. Trump came under fire from citizens, politicians on both sides of the aisle and business leaders. After eight executives quit his manufacturin…

Wall Street was buzzing yesterday with talk that Unilever could make a bid for Colagte-Palmolive Co. Street Insider reported that Unilever bankers were pushing for the board of directors to pursue the oral and personal care company.
Neither…

In a resounding “NO” to US President Donald J. Trump’s decision to withdraw the country from the Paris Agreement on climate change, business and industries across the US have pledged that they will continue to work toward reducing c…

The reunion was a long time coming. I hadn’t seen my old boss in years; just once, in fact, since I left the newspaper more than three decades ago. After a couple of emails back and forth, we finally committed to a Saturday afternoon lunch.…

The news report was startling; and no, not the coverage of United Flight 3411—after flying out of Newark for more than 25 years nothing the airlines do surprises me anymore.
No, I’m referring to a study published last month that foun…

If you’re reading this issue on April 4, chances are you’re in London for In-Cosmetics Global. Thousands of industry executives from around the world are in The Old Smoke for The Event. Happi will be at In-Cosmetics Global, too, and we&rs…